Thank You, Jesus!"

By Sara Cohen 

The second semester of seventh grade had just begun, and Futaba was already in despair. Last semester, she totally tanked her classes and had to take an hour-long lecture from her mom and extra chores as a punishment. This time around, Futaba was determined to raise her grades.

“But how?...” she mumbled, deep in thought during math class.

After what seemed like forever sitting through math class and recapping previous subjects, the bell finally rang, and it was time for lunch.

  Futaba thought more about how she could improve her grades this semester whilst walking to lunch, so much so that she bumped right into a teacher. 

By the time Futaba got to the cafeteria and sat down at her table, she was already discouraged. She didn’t do well studying by herself, and her mom was pretty busy in the afternoons. 

Futaba usually was the first at the lunch table, since Yoshida’s class was a little farther from the lunchroom than hers was. 

Futaba and Yoshida had just recently become friends this year. And so far, things were progressing rather smoothly! Despite Futaba’s inherent awkwardness, she seemed to always be able to find something interesting to talk about with Yoshida. 

Lately, they’d been talking about God, and Futaba especially loved those conversations. Suddenly, just as she was thinking, Futaba came up with an amazing idea.

“I could ask Yoshida to study with me at my house! She doesn’t like going home early, and she’s super smart! Plus, I could help her with science…” Futaba thought happily. 

Just then, Futaba spotted Yoshida entering one of the lunch lines. And right after that, she got an anxious feeling.

“What if that’s weird? Is it weird to ask new friends to come over?... How would I even ask her?” Futaba’s mind was swirling, and all of a sudden, she imagined many horrible possibilities. Although they mainly consisted of dramatic scenarios in which Yoshida harshly rejected her or called her invasive and pushy. Her head sank, and she felt even more discouraged.

“Oh, Jesus, I already feel discouraged. Please, please, I hope I am not rushing our friendship. Yoshida’s pretty timid, I don’t want to put her on the spot…” Futaba thought, dejected, whilst laying her head on the table. 

By the time Futaba was able to pull herself out of her thoughts, Yoshida was already receiving her food and nearly on her way out of the line. At first, this just made Futaba more anxious, but she was able to quickly override this with optimism.

“Wait! Yoshida isn’t mean like that at all! Plus, the worst she could say is no. I could always ask someone else or find another way to study!” She thought as she sat up, with a face full of determination. 

Finally, Yoshida came out of the line and was heading toward the table. She had grown quite fond of Futaba, even though they had just met. It seemed like she was quickly making herself a spot in the list of important things in her life. 

Yoshida looked toward the table, expecting to see the usual Futaba, waiting gleefully with a happy smile on her face. But, instead, Futaba seemed to be occupied with something. She had a strange look of resolve on her face and held her fists tight with determination. 

The sight was so silly that it managed to make otherwise introverted Yoshida giggle.

“Yoshida! I have a maybe- amazing idea!” Futaba shouted with both excitement and uncertainty. 

This “maybe- amazing” idea made Yoshida curious. Futaba was usually a pretty excited person, so it wasn’t odd for her to be so pumped, but something seemed different about this. Futaba seemed a bit anxious, and it was apparent to Yoshida even from the distance she was from the table. 

As Yoshida was walking around the table to her, Futaba’s worries began to resurface.

“What if she really doesn’t want to? Will asking her be forceful? Should I-” Futaba cut those thoughts off just before they began to spiral.

“Futaba! Stop. Remember what Peter said about the Lord and anxiety. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. Don’t stress, God is here for you.” She reassured herself. 

Just as Futaba finished this thought, Yoshida seemed to notice her troubled look. 

“Futaba? What’s wrong? What was the idea you wanted to tell me about?” Yoshida said gently, with a look of true care and concern. She seemed like she really did want to know. It gave her the final push to respond.

“So, you know how I totally flunked most of my classes last semester, right? Well… I was thinking of ways I could improve my grades, and I thought that maybe we could study together at my house! Or- at your house, if you want…” Futaba said with sincerity. 

She was uncertain whether or not Yoshida would be open to the idea, but she decided to give her worries to God. Futaba knew it would be better to have faith in him than to stress over it. 

Futaba was pleasantly surprised by the warm and excited response she was met with. Yoshida’s response was certainly relieving. 

They began to talk about all the possibilities and activities they could do together to study and have fun. Futaba even proposed that they read the Bible and pray before and after studying together! Yoshida also suggested that she bring her dad’s old concordance to help them out. 

By the time lunch ended, Futaba and Yoshida were both excited to go home and study together. 

“I guess I stressed all for nothing earlier! Thank you, Jesus, for reassuring me!” Futaba thought happily to herself as she and Yoshida walked to class together.